I popped down to Half Moon Bay at 09:30 to take some lugworms for a school trip to release (Malcolm). This pile of flotsam, mainly wrack, was in the corner just below the cafe.
I noticed that several birds were feeding on it and easily finding Kelp Fly maggots. Unfortunately, I only had an old pocket camera with me, but it proved good enough. This first clip shows a female House Sparrow collecting maggots for her chicks. She collects six in less than 30 seconds before flying off. You can hear the school children in the background plus the groundwater waterfall that discharges onto the shore here.
Middleton Nature Reserve
Janet checked in the morning.
Grasshopper warbler 1 reeling from the western marsh
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| Common Whitethroat feeding newly fledged young |
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| Adult Chiffchaff with food for a chick |
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| The Coot are still not tolerating the Mallard |
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| Watched over by the regular Grey Heron |
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| Male Common Blue |
I checked in the afternoon (Malcolm)
Wildfowl as yesterday.
Warblers: Cetti's, Willow, Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Reed. This adult Reed warbler was unhappy with me, I must have wandered too close to its nest/family.
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| These Hoverflies are Helophilius pendulus which, apparently translates to "dangling marsh lover" |
I thought (hoped) this Moorhen was going to cross the road, so I could ask "why did the hen cross the road.....".
But it didn't, it clearly didn't want to get to the other side.